Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Saudi Arabia
Jewish presence, Zionist advocacy and Israeli state, security and commercial ties in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Saudi Arabia cover the small, unofficial Jewish expatriate presence in the kingdom, the Zionist and pro-"Israel" organisations that have engaged its rulers, and Saudi Arabia's relations with the Zionist entity. Those relations remain unofficial: there are no diplomatic ties, despite shared hostility to Iran and years of US-brokered normalisation talks. Contacts have included security and intelligence links, investment and high-level meetings, and they are widely criticised as betraying Palestinian rights.[1][2]
There are no Jewish citizens, synagogues or registered Jewish bodies. Estimates of the expatriate Jewish population range "from the hundreds to low thousands".[3] Spyware from Israeli firms has been licensed for Saudi use, including after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.[4]
Jewish community and religious life
Legal framework
According to the US State Department, freedom of religion "is not provided for under the law". The law bans non-Islamic public worship, the public display of non-Islamic religious symbols and proselytising by non-Muslims. Non-Muslims may practise their religion only in private. Non-Muslim clergy have been able to enter the country to minister to their communities, although there is no religious worker visa. The 2022 census counted 32.2 million people, of whom 41.6 per cent were foreign residents.[5] Human Rights Watch reports continuing repression of dissent in the kingdom.[6]
The same report records some signs of opening. At the 2023 Riyadh International Book Fair, a 16th-century Torah scroll was shown in a pavilion of rare manuscripts. In October 2023 Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, visiting Riyadh for the Universal Postal Union Congress, was reported to have held Sukkot prayers in his hotel.[5]
The Israeli textbook monitor IMPACT-se found that "almost all examples portraying Christians and Jews in a negative manner" had been removed from Saudi textbooks. Some references to "the Zionist enemy" had been replaced with "the Israeli occupation", but "Israel" was still left off maps.[5]
Expatriate Jews
All Jews living in the kingdom are expatriates. The Times of Israel reported estimates "from the hundreds to low thousands". An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said "there's no Jewish community [in Saudi Arabia]".[3] In 2023 the rabbi Jacob Yisrael Herzog claimed that "about 15,000 Jewish people work in the kingdom on different employment contracts". That figure is his own and has not been corroborated.[7]
Jacob Yisrael Herzog
Jacob Yisrael Herzog (legal name Jacob Levkoff Herzog) was born in the United States and lives in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem. In 2021 The Times of Israel described "a self-propelled campaign to become the chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia, a country that officially has no Jewish community". He had made five trips to the kingdom since the summer of 2021, travelling on a US passport with a tourist visa. By his own admission he had not been in contact with the Saudi government, although he claimed that "they hear me talking". Four Gulf Jews interviewed by the paper said: "He's acting like a bull in a china shop."[3]
In 2023 i24NEWS, republished by Ynet, described him as "a Chabad emissary" who had "appointed himself what he says is the first rabbi in the kingdom's modern history". It said he ran the first Chabad house in Riyadh, from a rented space where prayers and holiday meals were held.[7]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Saudi Arabia
Chabad has no official emissary in Saudi Arabia. In 2021 the movement's spokesman, Motti Seligson, said: "Chabad-Lubavitch does not currently have an emissary to Saudi Arabia. The needs of Jews in Saudi Arabia are largely being met by Chabad in the UAE — from where kosher food and other needs are provided for". The Times of Israel reported that "Although he and his family are part of the Chabad community, Herzog is clear that his efforts in Saudi Arabia are not linked to the organized Chabad movement". His wife, Devorah Leah Herzog, nonetheless said: "We are the emissaries of the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe in Saudi Arabia."[3] The 2023 press label "Chabad emissary" therefore conflicts with the movement's own 2021 statement.[7] No source shows that the movement ever appointed him. He is best described as a rabbi from the Chabad community working on his own initiative, not as a Chabad emissary. The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi or community in Saudi Arabia.[8]
Association of Gulf Jewish Communities
The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities (AGJC) was founded in February 2021 by the Jewish communities of six Gulf states, Saudi Arabia among them. It is led by Rabbi Elie Abadie, who is based in Dubai.[9] The AGJC told The Times of Israel that it "recognizes Rabbis that have been appointed and selected to their position by the Jewish community and the governments of those countries". Herzog had no formal relationship with it.[3]
How far are these bodies Zionist? No Saudi Jewish body is registered, so none is affiliated to the World Zionist Organization, the World Jewish Congress or the Jewish Agency for Israel. The AGJC's Saudi "member community" is not identified by name in its founding statement.[9] No evidence was found that Herzog or the AGJC raise funds for Israeli causes or carry out advocacy for "Israel" inside the kingdom.
Zionist movement and advocacy
American Jewish organisations
In January 1992 a seven-member delegation from the American Jewish Congress spent four days in Saudi Arabia. It left convinced that the Saudis were "committed to the Middle East peace process". An official at the Israeli embassy in Washington said privately that "one could see this as an encouraging sign for greater openness".[10]
On his 2018 US tour, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America, all of which campaign against BDS. According to a leaked itinerary reported by Haaretz, he also met leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, B'nai B'rith and the American Jewish Committee.[11]
In July 2022 the AJC welcomed the Saudi decision to open its airspace to Israeli flights. Its chief executive, David A. Harris, said: "In the spirit of the historic Abraham Accords, today's Saudi announcement is a significant example of normalization that will further advance the promise and reality of Arab-Israeli peace." The AJC added: "For more than 30 years, AJC delegations have been visiting the Gulf region — sometimes publicly, sometimes not".[12]
At AIPAC's 2023 policy summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia."[13]
Jason Greenblatt
Jason Greenblatt, a former White House Middle East envoy and one of the architects of the Abraham Accords, has visited the kingdom often. He said he attended a Jewish New Year celebration at the US embassy in Riyadh and wore a kippa there without any negative response. He advised President Biden to avoid pressing "Israel" on the Palestinian issue "beyond what the Saudis want".[14] In September 2023 Arab News published a Rosh Hashanah article by him, "No matter our religion, we all want peace".[5] At the 2024 Doha Forum he argued that "cooperation between these countries and Israel and America to bring safety and security and prosperity even if there's no formal normalization would be a big win".[15]
Track-two dialogue
On 5 May 2016 Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, held a public dialogue at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy with retired Major-General Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu.[16]
In July 2016 the retired Saudi general Anwar Eshki led a delegation of academics and businessmen to Jerusalem. He met Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold and COGAT chief Major-General Yoav Mordechai at the King David Hotel, and also met opposition Knesset members. Citing Haaretz, The Times of Israel said Eshki "couldn't have traveled to Israel without approval from the Saudi government". Eshki said he had visited "Palestine and Jerusalem, but not Israel". He had shared a platform with Gold at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington in June 2015.[17]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomatic status
Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with "Israel". On 7 February 2024 the Saudi foreign ministry said it would not open relations unless an independent Palestinian state was recognised on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Reuters reported that Riyadh had shelved the US-led normalisation push after the Gaza war began in October 2023.[2][18]
Meanwhile other states joined the Abraham Accords. Morocco did so in December 2020, and Sudan agreed to normalise in October 2020, although the formal signing was delayed. On 6 November 2025 President Donald Trump announced that Kazakhstan was joining.[19]
At the White House on 18 November 2025, Mohammed bin Salman said: "We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that [we] secure a clear path [toward a] two-state solution." Trump said: "I don't want to use the word commitment, but we've had a very good talk on the Abraham Accords." The two sides signed agreements on civil nuclear energy and on the future sale of F-35 fighter jets.[20] No normalisation agreement had been announced in the sources reviewed for this page (October 2026).
Official visits and openings
- Airspace (July 2022). Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to civilian flights to and from "Israel".[12][13]
- UNESCO (September 2023). An Israeli delegation attended a UNESCO-sponsored World Heritage meeting in Riyadh. It was the first publicly announced official Israeli visit to the kingdom.[5]
- Haim Katz (September 2023). Tourism Minister Haim Katz attended a UN World Tourism Organization event in Riyadh. He was the first Israeli minister to lead an official delegation to the kingdom.[21]
- Shlomo Karhi (October 2023). The Communications Minister attended the Universal Postal Union Congress in Riyadh.[5]
Covert contacts and statements
- 2006. Israel National News reported that "Israel" and Saudi Arabia had been holding "high-level secret talks on the issue of terrorism". The Saudi foreign ministry said that the story of contacts "between Saudi and Israeli officials is utterly false".[22]
- 2013. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told The Wall Street Journal on 23 November 2013: "For the first time, Saudi Arabian interests and Israel are almost parallel. It's incredible."[23]
- 2017. In an interview with the Saudi-owned website Elaph, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said "Israel" was ready to share intelligence with Saudi Arabia to face Iran.[24] The IBA's Emad Mekay wrote that Mohammed bin Salman was "close to Jared Kushner" and "surrounded by advisors known for sympathetic positions towards Israel". He named the journalist-turned-adviser Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, who had lobbied for Hamas to be labelled a terrorist organisation.[1]
- 2018. In an interview with The Atlantic, Mohammed bin Salman said: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations." He added: "there are a lot of interests we share with Israel".[25][26]
- 2020. Netanyahu flew to Neom to meet the crown prince and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He was accompanied by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen. The reporting was based on Israeli sources. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan denied it: "No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi".[27]
Surveillance technology
According to The New York Times, as summarised by the Business and Human Rights Centre, "Israel secretly authorized a group of cyber-surveillance firms to work for the government of Saudi Arabia". This continued after the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi. NSO Group cancelled its Saudi contracts after the murder, but the Israeli government encouraged NSO and two other companies to keep working with the kingdom. The Ministry of Defence licensed Candiru for Saudi work, and licences were also granted to Verint (before the killing) and QuaDream. Citing Haaretz, the report added that Cellebrite had sold to the Saudi government "without ministry approval".[4]
- Citizen Lab found with "high confidence" that the phone of the Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a permanent resident of Canada, had been infected with NSO's Pegasus.[28]
- The 2021 Pegasus Project found that NSO spyware had been used to target people close to Khashoggi before and after his murder. It pointed to "an apparent attempt by Saudi Arabia and its close ally the United Arab Emirates" to use the technology.[29][30]
- In 2023 Citizen Lab reported that QuaDream had sold its products to government clients including Saudi Arabia.[31]
Arms and air defence
In 2021 Saudi Arabia was reported to be considering Israeli air-defence systems: either Rafael's Iron Dome or IAI's Barak ER. Israeli defence sources told Breaking Defense that a deal would be realistic if both governments approved it.[32] The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database records no Israeli arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia.[33]
Investment
In April 2023 Globes reported that Sanabil, the private investment arm of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), had disclosed investments in some 60 funds. They included Insight Partners, Coatue, General Atlantic and KKR, all of which have invested heavily in Israeli technology companies. Globes added that earlier Saudi money had gone into funds active in "Israel", including SoftBank's Vision Fund and funds run by the former Trump officials Steve Mnuchin and Jared Kushner.[34]
Jeffrey Epstein
In July 2019 federal prosecutors told the court that an Austrian passport found in a safe at Jeffrey Epstein's New York home bore his photograph under another name, listed his residence as Saudi Arabia, and carried stamps showing its use to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.[35] State Department records obtained by ABC News show that Epstein repeatedly applied for a second US passport "in order to avoid conflicting visa stamps" when travelling to "Israel" and to Arab states including Jordan and Saudi Arabia.[36]
Documents released by the US Justice Department in 2026 show that the Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen introduced Epstein in 2016 to Raafat Al-Sabbagh, a close adviser to Mohammed bin Salman, and that the two men met and corresponded in 2016 and 2017:[37]
- Epstein called the plan to sell shares in Saudi Aramco "silly". He warned that a listing could expose the kingdom to lawsuits and asset seizures, citing a 2016 US law that allows Americans to sue foreign states over terrorism.[37][38]
- The records suggest that he visited Riyadh in early November 2016. On 9 November he proposed becoming "financial confidant" to the prince, asked for a meeting with the prince every two weeks, said he would need to review "all financial components MYSELF", and offered to work unpaid for the first year.[37][39]
- In October 2017 he suggested selling China an option on a $100 billion stake in Aramco instead of a public offering.[38]
- In 2017 pieces of the Kiswa, the cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, were shipped from Riyadh to Miami as a gift from the Saudis and sent on to his island in the US Virgin Islands; his staff listed them as "artwork" for customs.[37]
- A photograph released by the Justice Department appears to show Epstein with Mohammed bin Salman.[37]
The records do not show whether the Saudis acted on his advice; Aramco was listed in Riyadh in 2019. A Saudi source told the Miami Herald that meetings with officials are typically introductory, and that Epstein "was known to exaggerate and misrepresent his connections".[37]
Ehud Barak's leaked emails
The following items come from Barak's two leaked mailboxes (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[40] In 2015 Ehud Barak's associate Benad Goldwasser worked on a $200 million "Saudi VC Fund for investments in Israel", with Barak named as "one of our partners".[41]
- Two Saudi families would partner with the Edmond de Rothschild bank in Saudi Arabia, and the fund would be raised "under the name of Rothschild".[42][43]
- One model had a Luxembourg-based fund investing 80% of the money in "Israel".
- Under another model, the money would flow through a new Rothschild fund in which "there will not be a way to trace the allocation between investments in Europe and Israel".
Barak replied "Looks promising. Let's see".[44] He also approved the fund description sent to Rothschild's Luxembourg fund managers.[45]
See also
- Abraham Accords
- Chabad Lubavitch of Saudi Arabia
- Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
- Zionist movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bahrain
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to the United Arab Emirates
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Jordan
- Government of Saudi Arabia
External links
- US State Department: 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom – Saudi Arabia
- Association of Gulf Jewish Communities
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Emad Mekay, Saudi Arabia and Israel quietly prepare 'deal of the century' International Bar Association, c. 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Reuters, Saudi Arabia: no Israel ties without recognition of Palestinian state Reuters, 7 February 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Carrie Keller-Lynn, In Saudi Arabia, a rabbi angles to lead a Jewish community that doesn't exist The Times of Israel, 27 December 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti (New York Times), Israel: Surveillance technology companies allegedly aided Saudi spying despite Khashoggi killing Business and Human Rights Centre, 17 July 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 US Department of State, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi Arabia US Department of State, 2024.
- ↑ Human Rights Watch, World Report 2024: Saudi Arabia Human Rights Watch, 2024.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 i24NEWS, The first rabbi of Saudi Arabia Ynet, 13 August 2023.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, Communities rabbisalliance.org, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, Jews in 6 Gulf nations form first association to enhance regional Jewish life gulfjewish.org, 15 February 2021.
- ↑ Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Saudis Tell Visiting Jewish Group They're Committed to Peace Process JTA, 23 January 1992.
- ↑ Al Jazeera, MBS meets AIPAC, anti-BDS leaders during US visit Al Jazeera, 29 March 2018.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Committee Hails Saudi Decision to Open Air Space to Israeli Flights AJC, 15 July 2022.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Antony J. Blinken, Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the 2023 American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Summit US Department of State, 5 June 2023.
- ↑ Middle East Monitor, Saudi has become partner of Zionists in the occupation of Palestine Middle East Monitor, 4 October 2023.
- ↑ The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, The Elusive Saudi-Israeli Normalization Deal: Why an Agreement is Likely to Fall Short of Expectations The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, 27 January 2025.
- ↑ Washington Institute for Near East Policy, A Conversation on Security and Peace in the Middle East The Washington Institute, 5 May 2016.
- ↑ ToI Staff, Former Saudi general visits Jerusalem, meets Israeli officials The Times of Israel, 23 July 2016.
- ↑ Saudi Press Agency, Foreign Ministry: Saudi Arabia's position has always been steadfast on Palestinian issue SPA, 7 February 2024.
- ↑ Middle East Institute, The Abraham Accords Middle East Institute, November 2025.
- ↑ Jacob Magid, MBS tells Trump he wants to join Abraham Accords, but path to Palestinian state crucial The Times of Israel, 18 November 2025.
- ↑ Lazar Berman, In first, Israeli minister leads official delegation to Saudi Arabia The Times of Israel, 26 September 2023.
- ↑ Israel National News, Secret Talks Between Israel and Saudi Arabia Israel National News, 2006.
- ↑ Simon Henderson, No One in the Region Will Sleep The Washington Institute, 25 November 2013.
- ↑ Al Jazeera, Israel 'willing to share' Iran intelligence with Saudis Al Jazeera, 16 November 2017.
- ↑ Al Jazeera, Saudi crown prince: Israelis have right to their own land Al Jazeera, 3 April 2018.
- ↑ BBC News, Israel and Saudi Arabia: The relationship emerging into the open BBC News, 3 April 2018.
- ↑ Barak Ravid, Saudi Arabia denies Netanyahu met secretly with crown prince Axios, 23 November 2020.
- ↑ Citizen Lab, The Kingdom Came to Canada: How Saudi-Linked Digital Espionage Reached Canadian Soil Citizen Lab, 1 October 2018.
- ↑ Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Saudis behind NSO spyware attack on Jamal Khashoggi's family, leak suggests The Guardian, 18 July 2021.
- ↑ Amnesty International UK, Pegasus Project: massive data leak reveals Israeli NSO group's spyware used to target activists, journalists, and political leaders globally Amnesty International UK, 2021.
- ↑ Citizen Lab, Sweet QuaDreams: A First Look at Spyware Vendor QuaDream's Exploits, Victims, and Customers Citizen Lab, 11 April 2023.
- ↑ TURDEF, Saudi Arabia may acquire Israeli air defence systems TURDEF, 2021.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Assaf Gilead, Saudi Arabia invests millions in Israeli startups Globes, 14 April 2023.
- ↑ Tom Winter and Rich Schapiro, Jeffrey Epstein used foreign passport with fake name to enter Saudi Arabia: prosecutors NBC News, 17 July 2019.
- ↑ James Hill and Thomas Volscho, Records show Jeffrey Epstein's requests for multiple passports, travels to Africa and Middle East ABC News, 15 January 2024.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 Shirsho Dasgupta, Epstein's ties to Arab royals: An offer to tutor crown prince, a gift from Mecca Miami Herald, 8 April 2026.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Jana Choukeir, Andrew Mills and Maha El Dahan, Epstein tried to build web of powerful ties across Middle East, documents show Reuters, 19 February 2026.
- ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein, "please transmit to HE", 9 November 2016, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 11, EFTA02670782 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Email from Benad Goldwasser to Oded Zucker, "Saudi VC Fund for investments in Israel", 23 June 2015, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!14/1 (64).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Benad Goldwasser to Oded Zucker, "Communication from Saudis", 21 May 2015, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!16/1 (55).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Benad Goldwasser to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: The Saudi Fund", 5 August 2015, forwarding his exchange with Fabrice Aidan of Edmond de Rothschild, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!11/1 (469).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Ehud Barak to Benad Goldwasser, "Re: Saudi VC Fund for investments in Israel", 23 June 2015, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!14/1 (55).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Ehud Barak to Benad Goldwasser, "Re: Saudi VC Fund", 2 July 2015, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!13/1 (299).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.